Tag fastener



Sept. 15, 1-936. R W. HOWELL TAG FASTENER Filed oct.` 21, 1935' PatentedSept. 15, 1936 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE TAG FASTENER ApplicationOctober 21, 1935, Serial No. 45,974

5 Claims.

This invention relates to fasteners and more particularly to fastenersadapted for use in attaching tags or other identifying media t articlesor material.

Various forms of tag fastenershave been made which require grasping thefastener itself in order to attach it to an article and it has beencustomary to make the fasteners of such size as may be conveniently heldwith the fingers while it is being attached or detached. For thisreason, the fasteners are usually made larger than would be required ifit were not necessary to hold them in such amanner. It is therefore oneobject of this invention to provide a tag fastener, which is 15 anchoredto a tag in such a manner that the tag may serve as a handle for thefastener, whereby attachment to an article or material can be made bygrasping t'he tag in the hand near the region of the fastener to directthe fastener prong into fastening engagement with said article ormaterial. This construction permits using a minimum length of wire,which results in greater economy of manufacture.

Another object of this invention 'is to provide a tag fastener which maybe formed of a single length of wire and which will have means forholding a tag at one end, a prong or hook at the opposite end forengaging an article or material, and a tongue member cooperating withthe end of the prong to prevent disengagement of the fastener after ithas been attached.

It has been customary to shape fasteners of this class in variousirregular shapes, and the line of pull extending between theticket-engaging bend and the material-engaging bend is Off to one. sideof the connecting portion of the fastener to such a degree that a pulltends to straighten out this portion and thereby deforms the shape ofthe fastener and renders it insecure.

It is one object of this invention to provide a tag fastener in whichthe back or connecting portion is made straight and the centers of thetagreceiving bend and the material-receiving bend are positioned closeto this straight back.

The invention may be embodied in two Slightly dilerent forms, accordingto the nature of the goods to which the tag is to be attached. In one ofthese forms the terminal portion of the 50 prong is bent back uponitself so that the prong terminates in a sharply rounded end adapted toenter easily a loose-meshed fabric, but free from points or edges whichmight cause harm.

In the other form, the end of the prong is 55 sharpened to a point so asto be capable of penetrating a substantially continuous fabric such aspaper, closely Woven cloth or the like.

Various advantages which will be apparent to those skilled in the artare included in this invention and disclosed in the accompanying drawing5 and specification.

Figure 1 is a.l perspective view of the preferred tag fastener attachedto a tag.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of said fastener with the tag shown insection. 10

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of'I said fastener and tag.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing said tag and fastener beingattached to an article.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a modified form 15 of fastener with thetag shown in section.

Figure 6 is a side elevation showing this modified fastener attached tomaterial.

Referring to Figure 1, a preferred form of tag fastener A is shownattached to a tag B. gg The tag is of the usual construction, having anopening l and preferably having reenforcing patches 2 adhesively securedto its sides in the region of said opening.

The fastener is preferably formed of a length 25 of round spring Wire,with a back portion 3, connecting together a prong 4 and a tongue 5.

A U bend 6 at the lower end of back 3 engages the tag through theopening I and a V bend l is provided at the top end of back 3 to 30engage an article or material to which the fastener is to be attached.The prong is adapted to pierce the material when attaching, while thetongue serves as a locking device to prevent the fastener from becomingdisengaged therefrom. 35 The fastener is normally in the form of aclosed loop C, but the tongue 5 and the prong 4 can be sprung apart toopen the loop for receiving an article or material to be tagged.Preferably, the bend 'l is relatively sharp and the prong 4 40 extendsout at an acute angle to the back. The end portion of the prong ispreferably inclinedr toward the back as shown by the bend 9, to assistin directing the end 8 out of the material after the prong has beeninserted therein, so 45 as to leave the end of the prong outside with aportion of ythe material disposed Within the loop C as shown in Figure4. While we have shown the prong as extending in a substantiallystraight line and at an acute angle with the back, it could be madeslightly curved or any shape which would act upon the material to drawit into the material-receiving bend 'I when a pull is `exerted on thefastener. A portion of the tongue 5 near the bend B is bowed in, as atI0, 55

toward the back 3 so as to pinch and grip the tag tightly, as indicatedin Figure 2. This tends to hold the fastener in a definite positionrelative to the tag, the plane of the f-astener loop being maintainedsubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the tag and the back memberof the fastener being maintained substantially in the plane of the tag.

The tongue 5 extends outwardly from the reentrant bend I in a generaldirection forming an acute angle with the back 3. Thus, when the tag isattached to an object so that a portion of the object extends throughthe loop C, a pull on the tag tends to crowd such portion of the objectinto the angle 1, that is, close to the axis of the back 3, minimizingthe tendency of the prong 4 to swing away from the back 3 under thestress of the pull.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, theend portion of the prong 4 is bent back on itself as at 8, forming asmoothly rounded end which cannot prick the user or injure the object towhich the fastener is attached. Preferably the end portion of saidtongue is given a slight inward bend as shown at Il, while the extremeend terminates close to or yieldingly abuts an inner portion of theprong 4.

A modified form of fastener is shown in Figures 5 and 6 in which the endof the prong I4 is not bent back upon itself but is cut off, and, ifdesired, sharpened to a fine point. As illustrated in Figure 5, theprong I4 extends straight from the bend 1 to the tip I8, but it isunderstood that if preferredthe terminal portion can be bent inwardly inthe manner shown at 9 in Figure 2. Furthermore the end of the tongue I5may be sharpened as indicated in Figure 5, or may be left blunt as inthe form of fastener shown in Figure 1.

It will be seen that the fastener is firmly anchored to the tag so that,when attaching to an article or material, the hand may grasp the tag ata point close to the fastener and direct the insertion of the fastenerwithout the necessity of grasping the fastener itself. Consequently, thefastener may be made of small dimensions and considerable economy ofmanufacture effected.

It will also be noted that the preferred fastener has a prong providedwith a. smooth round end formed by bending the end of the wire back uponitself, said end being capable of piercing some fabrics but blunt enoughto prevent injury to persons or material coming in contact therewith. Itwill also be seen that the bent back end of the wire cooperates with theYend of the tongue to prevent accidental detachment of the fastener whenattached.

The modified form of fastener shown in Figures 5 and 6 is moreadvantageously used on those types of material which require a sharppoint for penetration and which have sufficient' body to retain theportion of the prong embedded therein, such as meat, cork, rubber,closely woven fabrics, etc.

It should be understood that the foregoing disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:-

1. A tag fastener comprising a single piece of spring wire in the formof a closed loop, said wire having a straight intermediate portionserving as the back of the fastener, an end portion bent to make anacute angle.V with said back and to serve as a prong, and another endportion bent to form a tongue making an acute angle with said back andengaging said prong, a portion of said tongue adjacent to its junctionwith the back having a reentrant bend toward said back.

2. A tag fastener comprising a single piece of spring wire in the formof a closed loop, said fastener consisting of a back, a prong and alocking tongue, said back being straight throughout, said prong beingdisposed at an acute angle to the back, said tongue engaging the prongadjacent to thel end thereof and forming with the lower portion of theback tag-pinching jaws whereby the plane of the fastener is maintainedperpendicular to the plane of the tag attached thereto.

3. A tag fastener comprising a single piece of spring wire in the formof a closed loop, said fastener having a straight back, a prongextending from the upper end of said back and making an acute angletherewith, the free end of said prong being bent back sharply uponitself to form a smooth blunt extremity, and a locking tongue extendingfrom the lower end of the back to engage the Aprong near the extremitythereof, said back and tongue having closely spaced portions adapted topinch a tag therebetween.

4. In combination with a tag, a tag fastener composed of a single pieceof spring wire, said fastener having a straight back portion disposedsubstantially in the plane of the tag and said `fastener having a prongportion extending from the upper end of said back and making an acuteangle therewith, said fastener also having a tongue portion extendingfrom the lower end of said back through the tag at the junction of theback portion and the tongue, to engage said prong near the extremitythereof, said tongue and back having a. pinching engagement with saidtag to maintain the fastener in a plane substantially `perpendicular tothe plane of the tag.

5. In combination with a tag, a tag fastener secured to said tag andcomposed of a single piece of spring wire bent into a closed loop witha. straight back member, a prong and tongue extending at acute anglesfrom the respective ends of the back member to meet each other, saidback member and tongue having portions cooperating to maintain said backmember substantially in the plane of the tag and the plane of said loopperpendicular to the plane of the tag.

RICHARD W. HOWELL.

